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By just about any measure, the first College Football Playoff was a success. Both the semifinals, which were viewed by 28 million, and the championship (33 million) set all-time records for a program on cable television.

But before the before we close the book on the 2014 season and start looking ahead to Spring practice, here are five burning questions about the future of the CFP:

Dallas–It was the morning after Ohio State’s 42-20 win over Oregon for the first national championship of the College Football Playoff. And as the media is wont to do in the age of Twitter, they tried to get Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to quickly turn the page to next year’s team, who’s turning pro, and what the future could hold for the Buckeyes’ program. Ohio State’s eighth national championship …

Dallas–Here are my top five story lines and a prediction for Monday night’s College Football Playoff title game between Ohio State (13-1) and Oregon (13-1):

1) The Ohio State defensive line: Oregon was averaging 49 points per game when the Ducks took on Auburn in the 2010 BCS championship. Auburn defensive coordinator Ted Roof was able to slow Oregon because defensive tackle Nick Fairley controlled the middle of the line of …

Dallas–When the creation of the College Football Playoff was announced, there was little doubt the first championship game would be here. Where else could it be but the biggest, shiniest, all-the-bells-and-whistles home of the Dallas Cowboys? There was no way that Jerry Jones, the Cowboys’ colorful/rich owner, was going to let it be held anywhere else.

In case you’re wondering, the next two CFP national championship games will be in Glendale, …

Since the end of college football’s regular seasons fans have been spending a lot of time talking and tweeting and wringing their hands about players, coaches and teams that failed to live up to their expectations. We need a new head coach. We need a new coordinator. If we could just get Coach X or Transfer Y then “we” would be playing for the national championship on Monday night. It …

Facts are facts. And the fact is that based on rankings, reputation and expectations, the SEC did not have a good bowl season.

Yes, the SEC won seven bowl games, which ties the conference’s NCAA record. But the 2-5 record of the SEC West, which included losses by No. 1 Alabama, No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 9 Ole Miss is a fact.

1) It capped a bad week for the SEC West: With six of its teams spending time in the Top 10 and with Alabama at No. 1, the SEC West had been hyped as one of the best divisions “ever” during the 2014 season. All seven members had qualified for bowl games. At the close of business at the Sugar Bowl …

New Orleans–There are at least a dozen ways to break down Thursday night’s national College Football Playoff semifinal between No. 1 Alabama (12-1) and No. 4 Ohio State (12-1). But there are five things you really need to know as you watch the Sugar Bowl:

1) This is not your father’s Ohio State: When former Florida coach Urban Meyer became head coach of the Buckeyes you knew he would go South …

OK. That’s 18 bowl games down and 19 remaining. We’ve already seen some pretty wild stuff as four of Saturday’s five games were decided by five points or fewer. But trust me, folks, the fun is just getting started.

The national semifinals of the first College Football Playoff are on Thursday at the Rose Bowl (Oregon vs. Florida State) and the Sugar Bowl (Alabama vs. Ohio State). It will be a …

1) The eight-team playoff isn’t going to happen anytime soon: Now that the first four-team playoff is set, some fans and some media are now clamoring for eight. If we just had eight, they argue, we wouldn’t have the hurt feelings at places like TCU and Baylor. Here’s the reality: The fact that we had the Ohio …